


Beauty and the Beast

by Some1sprincess



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Beauty and the Beast Fusion, Always Female Stiles Stilinski, And shocker, Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Camden Lahey being an Asshole, Derek Hale as the Beast (Beauty and the Beast), Derek is hella old, Everyone is a Werewolf, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Girl!Stiles, Human Stiles Stilinski, Jackson Whittemore Being an Asshole, Peter Hale Being an Asshole, Stiles Stilinski as Beauty (Beauty and the Beast), Stiles Stilinski is Belle, There are only a handful of Characters, except Stiles, like really old, so is everyone else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-10-20 07:47:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17618375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Some1sprincess/pseuds/Some1sprincess
Summary: Stiles didn't mean to be trapped but to be fair her life was filled with things she didn't mean to do. When she leaves a party one night and gets chased into the woods by wolves her life changes forever and she soon finds out that her life and her favorite book have a lot in common.





	1. Belle finds the castle... or at least Stiles does

**Author's Note:**

> So since I missed last weeks deadline due to shitty writing on my part I give you the beginning chapters on Beauty and the Beast teen wolf style. There are a lot of things that have changed to plot purposes. Derek is cursed, he can't leave his families home, Time does not work the same in his castle, Stiles gets stuck there and Derek's he's still an asshole. Also Camden wasn't referred to a whole lot in the show so here he is just a dick also there are talk is some non-con but it is short and brief and does not go into any detail, there are unwanted touches and that is it but just please proceed with caution.

Stiles pumped her arms as she ran through the forest, she pushed her legs even though they burned from exhaustion, her heart pounded and her feet burned. She tried to look around, tried to make out anything to tell her where she was but it was too dark to see anything and the only thing that she could hear was the wind rustling through the trees. As she tried to gain some perspective her dress snagged on a low branch causing her to fall forward, her hands coming into contact with the hard ground burning as they were cut open, her knees were the next thing to hit and there was a sharp pain that ran the length of her knee and she was scared that she broke something. It was just then that there was a loud howl that came from about 50 feet to her left and she could feel the fear escalating turning onto her back so that she could yank on her dress.

“Come on, come on” the first howl was met with another and she yanked as hard as she could the silk material giving way and letting her loose. She threw herself back onto her hands and knees, her knee giving out as she tried to put her weight on it. There was growl to her right and she tried to look but it was just too dark, there was no moon out so there was no light to help guide her way as she got back onto her feet and started running once again. Her lungs burned even though the air was cold enough to cause the snow that now fell. Stiles tried to watch where her feet were landing as she ran away from the pounding of paws that indicated her attackers but it was all just useless. 

Her eyes couldn't adjust to the dark and she fell once more landing again on the hurt knee but this time she didn't wait, she knew they were closing in and she needed to get out of there as fast as she could. Stiles was sure that her bare feet were bleeding as they pushed her further into the forest and away from the wolves. The tears that were streaming down her cheeks were freezing there as she pushed her body faster between the trees. 

All of the sudden she fell into a clearing where she saw a huge mansion a fair distance away and while it was an odd placement there may be a possibility that it was going to be her saving grace. With hope just in her sight the last little bit of adrenaline was injected into her body as she pushed herself as fast as it would go until she reached the front door. She tried to open it but it was locked and there was a sob that ripped through her chest as she banged on the front door with her fists.

“Please. Please help me” her hands were throbbing from falling in the forest and there was blood that was being left where her fists were meeting the wood but she looked back and the wolves were coming into the clearing getting closer as she screamed for someone to open the door “let me in. I beg of you.” She yanked on the handle hoping that it would give under the pressure and when it didn't she turned to see the wolves stalking slowly towards her and a fresh wave of tears started down her cheeks freezing to her eyelids her breath coming out in puffs of white smoke. “Please” and just like that she was falling backwards, falling until she hit wood flooring and before the wolves could make it in she stumbled forward slamming the door shut and sitting with her back against it hoping that would be enough to keep them out.

Her chest was heaving, trying to get some of the air that she had been expelling back into her lungs, although she did notice that the air was a lot warmer now that she was inside but it didn't make her lungs burn any less from the exertion. She took the moment too look down at the dress that she was wearing and noticed that it was torn and tattered, irreparable, and was getting covered in blood the longer she sat there. Stiles hated dresses, nothing good ever happened to her while she had been in a dress and now was no different. 

“Are you okay”

Stiles gaze flew up to see four sets of eyes looking down at her, there was a boy that was the closest to her with puppy dog eyes and curly dark hair. His hand was held out but he looked like he was trying to move slowly as if trying not to scare her. Behind him was another boy a little bit taller, he too had curly hair but it was blonde. It was really hard for her to focus and she blamed the fact that her chest was still heaving and she was still scared to death, she was hoping that was why her vision was so blurred as well. 

She tried to swallow the lump that was in her throat due to the tears that were still streaming down her face “I don't think so” and just like that Stiles lost consciousness.

 

 

She came to in a soft bed, her body was aching all over and her chest still burned, there was no way that she was going to try and take a deep breath because that would only make it feel worse. There was something tight wrapped around her knee and her hands, she slowly opened her eyes to see a fire going in the fireplace that was next to the bed. That was her first indication that she definitely wasn't at home anymore, she slowly turned her head to see that that there was a dark haired girl sitting on the side of the bed her hand covering Stiles. There was also a strawberry blonde girl that was at the foot of the bed that looked bored and a blonde that stood by the door.

The blonde stuck her head out the door lifter her voice “Der, she’s awake!”

The dark haired girl that was next to her squeezed her hand gently enough to get her attention but not enough to hurt her, when Stiles gaze met hers she smiled and it was warm and sweet. “My names Allison, this is Lydia” she pointed to the girl that was on the end of the bed and then the blonde one “and that's Erica. What's your name?”

Stiles tried to clear her throat, it was sore and when she spoke it came out raspy and unrecognizable to her own ears “Stiles” it was soft and sounded tired and defeated and maybe that was because that's exactly how she felt.

“What kind of name is that”

Allison turned her head to glare at Erica before turning back to Stiles “it's beautiful” she grabbed the water from the nightstand and handed it to Stiles, she tried to take it and noticed that her hands were actually wrapped in a white cloth. “Do you remember how you got here?”

Stiles took a drink from the water and it seemed to ease her dry throat if even just a little bit “I was at a party on the edge of the forest, my father always told me to never wander them without someone with me but my date was too much and I just wanted to get some air and then I was being chased.” She looked up at the girl next to her “has someone told my father where I am, he'll be worried and I'm all he has” she threw the covers back and tried to get out of the bed only when she tried to put weight on her leg it collapsed under her and just before she hit the floor there were arms around her keeping her from hitting the hard ground. “I need to get home, I have to get back to my father.” When she looked up it was to see a dark haired man, it wasn't either of the ones that she had seen before, his eyes were blue and his face looked angry. His arms were muscular as he set her back down on the bed, he stepped back and she noticed that he was in jeans and a black shirt with a dark green long sleeved Henley over it. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stood back. Stiles turned back to the girl “please I need to get home.”

The smile on Allison's face had fallen and she took Stiles hand “you need to rest now, you can't go anywhere if you can't stand on your own two feet.”

“You’ll tell him though.” She looked over to the man and he still had no expression on his face as he just watched her “you'll tell him that I'm here and that I'm safe.” The man didn't say anything as he moved to walk out of the room, he stopped and said something to the girl named Erica before looking back at her once more, leaving her with the girls.

Allison smiled but it was sad this time, pained “we’ll see what we can do.” She turned to Lydia and threw her head towards the door before turning back to Stiles, she lifted Stiles legs back into the bed pulling the blankets back up over her waist “get some rest.”

Stiles grabbed her wrist before she could get too far “please, don't leave me.”

She sat back down on the side of the bed and pushed the water at her “drink some more water, it'll be okay.” Stiles did as she was told and drank some more of the water before resting her head on the pillow as her eyelids started to get heavy once more.

 

Stiles came to screaming and thrashing in the bed, there were tears streaming down her cheeks again and her knee felt like she had been putting too much pressure on it, like she had been tossing and turning all night. The door to her room flew open and the boy with the puppy dog eyes came in and over to the side of the bed.

“Sh Stiles you're okay but you need to stop screaming, your okay.”

She settled down, her chest still heaving as if she had once more been running in the forest from the wolves, which had basically been her dream so it was no wonder she felt so out of breath. “Wh-who are you?”

The boy sat on the side of the bed “I’m Scott, I was there when you first arrived, do you remember?” She nodded and wiped at the tears that had still been on her cheeks, her chest was sore once more and she assumed it was because she had been breathing heavily again. His gaze went over to the fire place “let me get that started for you again it gets pretty cold in here at night if you don't have it going.” Stiles thought that it wouldn't be too hard to do since the embers were still going but he jumped up and went over adding a few logs on until it was once more roaring. He came back to the bed once he was done the soft dopey smile back on his face “better?”

Stiles shrugged, better would mean that she was at home with her father making sure that he was eating when he was supposed to and getting to bed early enough so that he wasn't late and didn't pass out in front of the tv with a scotch in his hand. “When can I leave?”

He took a deep breath “Derek says that you won't be able to walk on your own for at least six weeks but I brought you some crutches and some books.” He pointed and she looked over to a chair where there was a set of crutches leaning against the wall and the seat had a stack of books waiting for her “I didn't know what you would like so I brought you a little of everything.” 

She nodded and already wanted to get out of this bed but she wanted to do it when nobody was around to watch her potentially fail at keeping herself up. Stiles turned back to Scott “thank you, I appreciate the offer but I'm not staying here long, just long enough to be able to make it home on my own.”

The sad look that had been previously on Allison's face was now on Scott's “look about that...” his Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed “maybe you should just focus on healing first.” He tapped the bedding “you should get some rest and so should I.” Stiles watched as he left and sank into the bed, she knew that there was something that they weren't telling her and she was going to find out what it was.

 

Stiles was forced to stay in that bed for at least four weeks, the girls would only let her get out of bed to use the bathroom and even then they would hover at the door until she was done to make sure that she went back into the bed. Scott had learned that Stiles liked to read a lot and a little bit of everything so she stayed pretty busy but Stiles hated staying still. One night in particular she had gotten up in the middle of the night, or at least she hadn't been able to get to sleep and was bored out of her mind, so she had gotten up to go and explore. Only when she got to the door, tall, dark and brooding was standing in one of the other door ways, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed and a single eyebrow raised as if challenging her to leave the room. Of course, Stiles huffed and crutched her way back into the room. After that night though there was always one of the girls that slept in the bed with her and every time that she went to get up in the middle of the night they would wake up like they had super ninja hearing and follow her to the connected bathroom. Except Lydia, Lydia would stay in the bed with her own arms crossed until she got back into the bed. She felt like a prisoner in a house that she didn't even know, only worse because at least prisoners actually got yard time. 

It was a couple days after that that the dark broody man stepped into the doorway to the room she was in “your coming down for dinner” and just like that he was walking away.

Stiles was so stunned by the words that it almost didn't register in time, she threw back the covers “wait” she grabbed her crutches and tried to make it to the door but knew she wasn't going to make it in time. She huffed and let her hands fall to the handles lazily “I don't have anything to wear.” Looking down at the see through white nightgown, she decided that she was in fact not going down for dinner in something that showed the world her world. It was a little sad though because she really did want to get out of this stupid room but she just wasn't going to risk it.

“Here” she looked up to see Allison standing in the doorway with a smile on her face and a pile of folded clothes in her hands. “its a skirt but I also brought you some tights, he said I couldn't give you jeans because we couldn't wrap your knee tight enough but I figured you might be a little self conscious without something. Stiles felt the smile on her face, she hated skirts as much as she hated dresses but at least skirts weren't nearly as bad and she really liked that someone was on her side. “I'll let you get dressed and come back in to wrap your leg.” She placed the pile on the bed and Stiles went back and sat down, Allison knelt down to unwrapped her leg.

Stiles was careful when she put on the tights, making sure she didn't bend her knee too much and there was maybe one time that there was a sharp pain that went through her leg but it went away quickly enough once she straightened it back out. The skirt wasn't too bad, a green plaid skirt that reminded her of a schoolgirl uniform, there was a black shirt that she tucked in and a red cardigan type sweater that she left unbuttoned. When she was done she called for Allison who came back in and re-wrapped her leg. 

Once she was all ready Allison lead her out of the room and into the hall, she noticed that there several doors but the only one that was open as they walked past Allison pointed to it “this is my room, I’m generally the only one that keeps it open” she shrugged “well besides Scott and Isaac” Stiles wondered how many other people lived there if that didn’t seem like a lot to her. 

She didn't bother asking but continued to follow until they came out into a sitting room that was just before the stairs, there was a long sectional that was that was big enough to have a coffee table that sat in the middle. Just to the right though was a set of stairs that Allison led her to and very carefully made their way down. Allison walked in front of Stiles on the stairs and she assumed that it was in case she fell, Allison could catch her. Once they were at the bottom Stiles noticed there were double doors that were open to the left that led to an even bigger living room that what had been upstairs. Directly across from the stairs that they had just come down was another twin set of stairs, Allison's voice lowered and she looked over at them “don’t use those stairs”

Before Stiles could stop herself she asked “why?”

She shook her said “just don’t, it’s better if you don’t ask” and because Stiles was… well Stiles hearing her say that just made Stiles want to ask more, but instead she just looked back to the room that she had been looking at before trying to see what else she could spot.

Allison didn’t give her very much time to look around as she held out her hand to where the dining room was leading her over to the full table. The dark haired man sat at the head of the table glaring at them and the only place open was next to the curly blond headed boy from the stairs which was the other head of the table. The dark haired woman moved to the spot next to the curly headed kid and held out her hand “you know Scott” she went around the table “this is Kira” a dark hair girl with olive skin, probably the only girl that Stiles hadn't met. She smiled and held up her hand before Allison continued “you know Lydia and next to her is Jackson” some would call him handsome but Stiles would say that he looked like the quintessential California model. “Next to him is Camden, that's Isaac's brother ” a dark haired man with a smile on his face that said he was up to no good “you’ve seen Derek around, Peter is next to him” who also had a smile on his face like he just did some thing that he wasn’t supposed to be doing “then Boyd, Erica who you know, and Isaac was there when you first got here.”

Stiles tried to give her best smile but the two were making her really uncomfortable and she really never did like being the center of attention. She sat down at the table and looked down at the dinner that was in front of her, it was half of a stake, some potatoes and asparagus there was a cup of water that was just above her fork and knife.

“So Stiles, what do you think of our home?”

She looked up to where Peter still had that look that made Stiles very uncomfortable “I haven't seen too much of it but honestly I really just want to get home.” She looked down at her dinner losing her appetite at the thought of her father upset, it cause tears to well up behind her eyes but she forced them down.

There was a sickly laugh and Stiles looked up to where Peter was about to say something, only Derek spoke first, although it sounded more like a growl then words “don’t”

Peter continued to smile like he knew something she didn't, but it was Camden that spoke next “oh honey, your never going home.” Stiles looked at him her muscles freezing as she reached for her fork “your stuck here like the rest of us unless of course you want…” Derek had Camden by the throat, he had thrown him and the chair back to the ground and Stiles muscles started working on their own lifting her up to stand, taking her crutches and moving to the door. There she just stood not exactly seeing anything as she moved her head to see the back door straight to the left just past the stairs, and then to where the front door was to her right. 

She thought about running, about leaving and never looking back but before she could make her final decision, whatever it was going to be, there was a hand on her shoulder and Scott looking down at her “come on, I'll take you upstairs.” Too lost in herself to actually argue, he picked her up bridal style while Allison came around to grab her crutches. Stiles hated being carried but the thought of never being able to see her father again made her compliant to just about anything. It was like her heart had been ripped out and fed to her and now she was gagging on it. But what if he was just trying to get a rise out of her, what if he was just making it all up just to scare her he seemed like that kind of guy, or at least Camden and Peter did. Yeah that had to be it, she couldn't possibly be actually stuck her. It just couldn't be. 

With a plan forming in her head she allowed Scott to take her upstairs and lay her in her bed, she curled up in a ball and denied Allison's request for her to eat something saying that she just wanted to be alone. Stiles waited after they left for as long as she could before getting off of the bed, she left the crutches where they were leaning against the chair and went over to the dresser in hopes that she would find something to put on her feet. Allison seemed like one of those people that wouldn't leave her hanging if she didn't have to so she wasn't too surprised when she pulled open the top drawer to find a bunch of rolled up socks. She grabbed four pairs since it was now snowing outside and when she went to sit on the bed to put them on she noticed a pair of high tops converse under the bed and a black leather jacket on the chair, she didn't know when the had gotten there or how but she didn't care. When she was done putting on the pair of socks, not having to use all four now that she had something with actual soles on them, and shoes she pulled on the leather jacket as well, it was probably three sizes too big but it would keep her warm. Moving very quietly over to the window, she pulled it open to look out, there was a ledge just big enough for her to stand on so she crawled out and held onto the window frame. It was a little high for her liking but she needed to get to her father. Being in converse that had no grip though made the already icy surface even more slippery which meant that as she tried to shimmy her way to the edge she slipped and fell on her butt biting the groan out as she slide down the length of the roof. There was nothing to grab onto as her nails scraped on the tiles causing them to break as her body started falling over the edge, she was only able to catch herself once she had fallen off completely and was hanging with her arms above her head the jacket bunched up around her ears. She clung onto the freezing edge dangling in front of a very well lit window and held her breath waiting for someone to see her. The worst part was, it was the window to the living room where everyone was currently watching TV, the good part about it was that the TV was on the fair wall which meant their backs were to her. Isaac's head was lifted like he had heard something though and he was just about to turn around when Stiles picked up her bad leg and let herself fall to the ground with a loud ‘oaf’. Scrambling, she placed her back against the side of the house just as the light from the living room was obscured by what Stiles assumed was Isaac's body as he came to look out the window. 

The chill in the night air was making Stiles cheeks and nose cold as the snow around her feet caused the cloth on the converse to become wet making her feet freeze but she stayed in her spot until Isaac left and even then she stayed there until it was long enough for him to get settled back on the couch with everyone else. Of course she still couldn't see in without the potential of getting caught so when she thought she was in the cleat she made a run for it, pushing her legs and her still sore knee to the back gate that was just in view through the white falling powder. She was getting closer by the second and lucky for her the gate was already open so she picked up her pace and pushed harder, planning to only slow down once she was away from these crazy people. 

Only that never happened because the minute that she got to the gate line she was thrown backwards with such force that she actually flew through the air landing on her back with the wind knocked out of her lungs. She laid there in the snow looking up at the stars while trying to get her breath back, letting out a few deep coughs before rolling onto her side to get back up. Slowly getting up, she moved back to where the gate was, she brought up her hand to lay against the invisible wall feeling the energy beneath her fingertips that was keeping her in. Stiles screamed for it to let her out, begged with the invisible force and when still nothing happened the realization made her eyes well up with tears as she banged her fists against the boundary that was preventing her from reaching her father. As she sat there the storm around her picked up and made it impossible to see anything around her but she didn't care, she was going to stay here until she could leave. What was going to happen to her father, what was he going to do, better yet what was she going to do. Continuing to bang on the barrier she sank to her knees, the snow now through to her socks and freezing her feet to a point where her toes were completely numb, she rested her head against the force and cried until her body was shaking uncontrollably. Even then she proceeded to stay there because she didn't care if she had to turn into a human Popsicle in order to see her father again, she would do it. Of course her body went into shock before she could ever really know for sure if that was what it was going to take, going in and out of consciousness. At one point she came to staring up at the starry sky, her body feeling like it was floating, her vision was hazy and her body felt like it was filled with concrete but she gathered up what little strength she had to curl herself up in a ball closer to where the warmth was radiating. “I just want to go home.”

“I know” the voice was deep and quiet and she would have loved to find out whose voice it was but her eyes where just so heavy she couldn't keep them open any longer.

 

 

The next time she gained some consciousness she was back in the bed only it was a whole lot warmer, the blankets were wrapped tightly around her body and it felt like the whole bed was dipping with the amount of weight that surrounded her. When she opened her eyes she found out why, Lydia laid to her left, Kira behind her with an arm wrapped around her waist, Isaac laying between Lydia and Stiles legs, his own twisted into Erica and Boyd's who were stretched out across the foot of the bed. To her right was Allison with Scott laying close behind her his arm thrown across both girls his hand resting against Stiles stomach as if to make sure that she was still there. Stiles felt too warm, like she was going to start over heating in a minute and she looked over to see that the fireplace was roaring and the only one of then under the covers was her. She moved out from under the blankets trying to make sure not to wake anyone up and noticed that even Derek was in her room, asleep in the chair that sat close enough to the bed so that he could put his feet on the edge. Not knowing how she did it, she managed to maneuver her way off of the bed without stepping on anyone or waking them up, when she was standing next to the bed she noticed that her knee was sore but it didn't hurt too much so she made her way out of the room and into the hallway. 

Stiles didn't know where she was going but she needed to think, needed to figure out what she was going to do without the constant reminder that she was trapped here. She walked slowly to take it easy on her knee as she moved down the hall, while walking past one of the doors, it opened long enough for a hand to come out, grab her and pull her in, a body pushing her up against the wall. An arm came up to her throat not applying enough pressure to make her choke but pushing enough to make her stay there. Camden's creepy smile filling her vision “I brought you here to make my life easier, to make Derek nicer and now you've managed to get me thrown out and since your not giving Derek what he needs I'm going to take what I want.” 

She was confused by what he had said and ironically it wasn't the part about him taking what he wanted… she knew what that meant. “You didn't bring me here I was chased by wolves.”

He rolled his eyes at her stupidity “that was me.”

There was no way that could have been him, there was no such things as humans turning into wolves it was all a myth, fairy tales that were told to kids at night to make them stay in their beds “there were three of them.”

 

“Well duh, Peter and Jackson helped to” he used his body against Stiles to keep her there pulling at the fabric of her night gown and Stiles had to turn her head away from him he ran his tongue up her neck, cringing at his warm breath. “Now I'm gonna make you mine.”

“Derek!” she didn't know why it was his name that came from her lips but it was a plea, a plea to save her from this man as he clamped his hand around her mouth. The other went down to his jeans moving diligently at the button on his pants as Stiles struggled against him to get away but he was too strong for her, his weight too much against her small frame.

His lips grazed her ear and there were tears streaming down her face hitting his fingers but he didn't seem to notice like Stiles did. She knew that what was about to happen would be forged into her memory, every small detail remembered for nightmares later but for him, she would be just another hole. Stiles tried to push herself away from the wall letting out wails and calling Derek's name out behind his hand that was pushed against her mouth too hard. “Don’t do that, don’t ruin the last thing I get from being stuck in this hell hole house.” He managed to get his jeans undone and was tugging at her nightgown, pulling it up around her ribs so that he could reach her panties to gain access and Stiles wailed under his hands trying to push his body away but her arms were trapped in between them. His body pressing too hard and too close to hers to get them free. Camden's voice was wet and sickly as he whispered in her ear “I'm going to enjoy every minute of ruining you for Derek.”

“Like hell you will” Camden was being ripped away from her and without his weight bearing her up she fell to her hands and knees. As she gasped for breath she looked up to see that Derek was the one that had thrown him off and she was never happier to see him as his eyes flashed red and he held Camden in the air by his throat “your going to leave right now, you will never come back and if you do I promise I will rip your throat out with my teeth.” He tossed him through the door as Stiles stood, the next words coming out as a growl from deep in his chest “NOW LEAVE!” Stiles heard Camden trip on his way through the house and watched as Derek's body heaved with his breaths, he didn't look away from the door as his hands stayed balled up at his sides. She stepped closer and reached out to touch his arm, those glowing red eyes turning on her “you couldn't just stay put could you?!”

Stiles stepped back from the force of his words, she felt wrecked like any woman should after being in that kind of situation but he didn't seem to care and it made her own anger flare “no. I've been staying put for four weeks and staying put isn't exactly in my repertoire.”

He growled stepping closer to her but she wasn't backing down not again “I noticed”

She threw up her hands fighting with the urge to push him away, it wasn't like Camden if she pushed Derek he would step back but she wasn't going to do that not yet. “What did you expect that I would stay confined to my room like a prisoner and just let my life pass by and not question anything about what happened.”

“I expected you to stay in your room until you were healed.”

Her own voice grew with her annoyance, she knew that this new found confidence to defy him was really the fear from Camden's acts being manipulated and thrown at Derek, even though it wasn't his fault she felt this way… or at least all of it wasn't “and then what because you seemed to want to keep it all to yourself at the dinner table when Peter mentioned something. You should have said something from the beginning.”

“You shouldn’t have even been here” there was that growl again this time with an added bonus of accusation mixed in with his words.

She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward inches from where he stood “you should have kept control of your cronies.”

His eyes were flashing red again, anger welling up in his own eyes but there was something else too and Stiles blamed the previous events on why she couldn't identify what it was “well you shouldn't have run away.”

“You shouldn't have been hiding for the last four weeks.”

His shoulders fell and his body seemed to deflate, had she hit a nerve, the look almost had her taking back her words… almost. “I wasn't hiding, I was letting you get adjusted”

She let out a huff “no you were keeping me prisoner.”

“Maybe you should stop with the ‘what you should haves’ and get to the answers” they both turned simultaneously throwing glares over to Peter who was standing in the doorway. He held up his hands with a smirk playing at his lips Stiles didn't like, a smirk that wasn't actually apologetic at all “or maybe not…”

Derek let out another growl “because your plans have been working swimmingly?”

“Hey one of them worked very well, you just didn't want to take what was being offered.”

Those red eyes were back and flashing with a force that even made Peter cringe “she's a human being Peter, not a plaything to make everything better, now leave.” They both watched as the older man left the room before Derek looked towards Stiles again “come sit down, I'll explain once you get your weight off of your knee.” She followed him out into the little sitting room at the top of the stairs, he held out his hand to the couch while he went to sit across from her in a very nice comfy chair that Stiles had personally wanted to try out. When they were both situated he seemed to take a deep breath “a long time ago, when I was a lot younger I fell in love with this woman. I gave her everything and in return she burned my house to the ground with my family inside of it sans Peter.” Stiles watched as his Adam's apple bobbed and she could see the pain in his eyes “I went on this rampage where I started hunting these bad supernaturals. One of them turned out to be a witches mate, the witch came after me trying to seek revenge but when she found me I guess she saw something in me that made her take pity. She cursed me and Peter to the house that my family burned in, the only way that we can leave the property is if we shift but once outside the gate we can't shift back. Anyone that enters can never leave, yourself, the others, time stands still in here.”

It was a lot of information to take in at once especially after what had happened but even so she had so many questions that she wanted to ask, so many things she didn't understand “how long have you been here?”

“Since 1894”

Her mouth fell open as she stared at him doing the math in her head “that would make you a hundred…”

“And forty one, yeah I was 18 when I was trapped.”

Stiles feel back against the back of the couch her hands falling to her lap as her head turned ever so slightly “you look pretty damn good for being a hundred and forty one.” 

There was the smallest smirk that played at his lips that said he wasn't expecting her to go there but was maybe a little glad that she did “I told you time stands still in here.”

“What about the others, how did they get here,” she held up a hand “no, when did they get here?”

Derek took a deep breath “they slowly started to trickle in after. Lydia was the first, she was running from an attacker in 1910 and stumbled into the house much like yourself. Jackson came in 1912 looking for his betrothed who also happened to be Lydia, she was actually upset it took him so long to find her and they broke it off for a while. Allison got here in 1923, she had heard about the random disappearances in the woods and had been looking but without a whole lot of effort basically taking walks in the woods tell she got lost and found the house. Isaac was in 1932, he was running away from an abusive parent, then Camden in 1936 not believing that his little brother could just disappear like that and never giving up. Erica and Boyd stumbled in in 1962 due to segregation, they were in love and consistently being threatened so they ran away to be with each other. Scott got here in 1991 after his mother was put in the hospital by his father who quickly changed targets to Scott. And now you, although you're the only one that was forcibly brought here, everyone else just kinda stumbled in.

She huffed “lucky me” she was still trying to process it all, her finger picking at the frill of one of the pillows when something registered. Her gaze went back up to meet his “if you all are stick here and the only way that you can go out into the world is in a wolf form how do you have all of this stuff. Because I know for a fact that they didn't have TVs in 1896.”

“1894” she lifted an eyebrow and he held up his hands “the stuff just appears, I chalk it up to the witch still taking pity but every time something new is invented or something gets upgraded it just shows up. Movies, games, furniture, books, tvs, computers, clothes, some stuff will disappear and then the new stuff will just reappear in its place. There's some stuff depending on wear that will stay until broken but most of it gets magically replaced.”

“Books” it had gotten Stiles attention the minute that he had said it but she was kind enough to wait tell he was done even though it meant practically buzzing in her skin “your telling me every book ever written is here.”

“Written thus far but yes, we don't have access to books from the future.”

Stiles shook her head “that's impossible this place isn't big enough to hold that many books.”

Derek smiled and stood up “its magic” Stiles couldn't believe that this man could get more beautiful but when he smiled it was like seeing a sunrise for the first time after being blind since birth. He held out his hand “you coming?” She took it and he helped lift her into a standing position, he was patient with her as they went down the stairs and over to the other set.

She stopped and looked up the stairs before looking at him “I'm not supposed to be up there, Allison said.”

He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and she was glad that he was relaxing a little bit “I made that rule” he turned and picked her up so that he could carry her, she suspected that it was because he liked the feeling of her in his arms but then she thought that was stupid because he was like a chiseled masterpiece and she looked like something by Pablo Picasso. The reason he was really carrying her, she figured, was so that he didn't have to wait for her to climb up the stairs with her bum knee. At the top of the stairs he let her down in another small living room like the one they had been in previously, it was like the home had a mirrored effect. Leading her down the hallway a little he stopped in front of one of the doors, before throwing it open. There were bookcases on all four walls from floor to ceiling except where the fireplace was, a few chairs set up in the center, a few bean bags, and a chaise chair. 

The room didn't look nearly big enough for this to be the entire collection of books ever printed and it made her lift a skeptical eyebrow up at Derek as she pointed to the room “this is it?”

That smile was back and he pointed to the first shelf, “come stand here” she did as he said maybe a bit reluctantly but she wanted to know what was going on. When she was in place he spoke again “think about a genre you like, not anything specific just a genre.” She thought for a minute before deciding on one and meeting his blue eyed gaze “you have it?”

Stiles nodded “yes”

He held out a hand “now walk forwards and check on the next set of shelves.” 

She rolled her eyes and took the few steps it took to get to the next bookcase and looked over, sure enough there were books of the young adult genre she had been thing about. Huffing, she looked back to Derek “that was sheer coincidence.”

“Okay” he thought for a second before looking back up at her “stay there and think of a book you like, any book.” He waited for her and when she thought of one in particular she looked up at him. “Got something in mind?” She gave him a nod and he pointed to the spot she had been in just seconds before “come back over to this shelf.”

When she did and looked back at the bookcase she had just been at and it was shelves upon shelves of different variations of Beauty and the Beast, first additions, worn out copies with pages folded and wear lines on the spines, hard covers, paper copies every shelf had a different copy. “What the fuck!” It came out in a whisper as Stiles reached out to touch one of the older looking copies before turning back to Derek pointing back to where she had been looking “what?”

He seemed impressed with himself and Stiles had to admit it was a good look for him “you ever make notes in the margins of a book?”

She turned back to the shelf, glancing at the novels “of course”

“Think about the book, the specific one you wrote in, what you wrote, picture it in your mind.” She nodded and turned back to where he was leaning against one of the chairs, his arms folded over his chest and his ankles crossed. “Move back over” she did and when she found the one lone book sitting on the shelf all the other ones empty around she couldn't believe it. Stiles reached up letting her fingers graze over the worn out leather copy. Taking it in her hands she flipped through the pages seeing her own handwriting in the margins and it was an odd feeling to see.

“How?” Her voice was no higher than a whisper and difficult for even her own ears to pick up on.

“I'm not sure, the bookcases don’t change unless you look away from them.” He shrugged “I guess it's just another way for us to keep up on the times but even with these and the tvs and computers we can't contact the outside. No access to phones or social media, nothing. The only way you get contact with out there is if you can turn into a wolf and even then you can't speak to anyone.”

Stiles looked up at the shelves “this is insane. Wait…” she turned to look over at Derek “how do you know about social media your like 180?” 

His blue eyes burned holes in the back of her head “I'm only 141” she hummed and he threw his head towards the bookcase “I have access to all the best research, I can keep up with anything without ever using it.”

“Huh” she looked down at the book that was still in her hand, the one that she had notated in. 

“When you come in here more often than not the room will actually pick out a seat just for you” she cocked an eyebrow at him. Yeah a nonexistent entity was picking out what she was going to think was the most comfortable, sure. Derek, seeing the look on her face turned towards the chaise lounge “Lydia” she pointed to two bean bags in the corner “Scott and Isaac” there was a blue lazy boy in the opposite corner “Boyd.” He turned to the fireplace where there was a wing back chair “Peter” along with a big fluffy chair that could easily fit two people next to it “Allison and Kira share one and I prefer my room.”

Her head tilted while looking at him “nothing for Jackson”

Derek lifted an eyebrow “does Jackson look like the reading type to you?” 

She pointed at him with sass “fair point”

“You can come in here whenever you like just stay out of the rooms.” Stiles nodded and Derek looked down at his boots, his arms still across his chest causing his arms to look even bigger “I'm sorry you're stuck here, had I known what was happening I would have stopped it.” She nodded ever so slightly, looking back at Derek after turning to look back at the now full shelves. Her gaze fell on a new chair that hadn't been there before, sitting just in front of the window was a huge red moon chair. Derek watched her as she slowly made her way over to the chair walking in a full circle around it her fingers grazing against the soft fabric before she sat down.

“So the house just knows what I want” the chair was so comfy, it was like sinking into a cloud, there was even a divot just to the left that was padded where she could put her legs up too, Stiles was sure she could live in this chair.

“It has its limits but yes.”

Stiles looked up at him with a small smile spreading across her face “maybe it won't be too terrible to be stuck here.”


	2. Everyone loves Christmas... or at least almost everyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles learns how Derek feels about Christmas and its not what she expected.

Stiles was more often than not found in the library in one of two positions, the first and the one that she was found in the most often was at the large mahogany desk asleep with her head resting on whatever book was helping her with her research that day. Or two, and this was Derek’s favorite if he was ever willing to admit it and in this case he was not, was in her moon chair, her legs thrown over the side in a vague representation of the fetal position. It was maybe Derek's favorite because it made her look so small and innocent, childlike and it was also the only position that she wasn't constantly moving in. 

One night in particular, when the rest of the pack was out for a run after Derek had decided to stay behind to be the one to watch out for Stiles, he came out of his room around two o’clock in the morning to see the light shining down the hall from under the library door. When he pushed the door open, there was a fire going in the fireplace behind the desk where Stiles was splayed across what looked to be a very old very large book. Her arms were under head lifting it enough so that it didn't get stuck to the pages which as Stiles liked to admit was a big problem for her. He went over so that he could pick her up to take her back to her room when a leather bound book caught his eye, the paper wasn't actually paper but plastic and he could see thick card stock. Taking the book in his hands, he opened it to see that it wasn't actually a book but a photo album, there were two pictures on the page he had opened to. One was of Stiles she was maybe six and she was on a checkered picnic blanket with an older man and an older woman that Derek assumed were her parents, the other was maybe a year later and the old man from the previous picture was holding onto the back of a bicycle that Stiles was trying to ride. Derek flipped through a few more pages and found more of Stiles with her parents, a lot of Stiles with just her mom and then there was a change. Half way through the album the dark haired older woman was in the hospital, there were pictures where she had several iv’s in her arm, or where she looked too pale and one where she was even bald and there was a bandage wrapped around her head, in this one Stiles was sitting on the bed next to the woman and they were both laughing as the older woman rubbed Stiles bald head. In the picture Stiles looked to be about twelve and Derek took a moment to look down at the sleeping woman that was laying on his desk, her hair was long, braided down her back and away from her face. Her features were still soft with sleep so he went back to flipping through the album only to turn the page to wish that he hadn’t because in the next page was Stiles, with her short peach fuzz, in a black dress with black tights and shoes, she was hunched over and had her face buried into her father's side. The rest of them after that were of either Stiles or her father and Derek could understand the desire to want to go home to her father and he wished more for his own self preservation that she could. When he took her back to her room that night he made sure that he left the album on her nightstand. 

Two months of Stiles being stuck in the mansion, she was forced to call home, she found herself in the week of Christmas with not a decoration or present in sight. She had tried to ask Allison and Scott about why there was nothing but they both just shrugged her off and told her that they had never celebrated the holiday because Derek didn't like it. There was more to the story that they weren’t telling her but Stiles assumed they weren’t telling her because it would get back around to the Alpha and then they would really be in trouble. After she learned about the library she went on a research kick, looking up werewolves, normal wolves, witches, curses, magical borders and so much more that only left her with more questions than answers. What little information that she was left with was that Derek was the Alpha of the pack, hence the red eyes that she had seen when he had been angry with Camden, she also found out that everyone else in the house was also a wolf which meant that they could all leave the property unlike Stiles and they had all been given the bite by Derek. Of course she had more questions about the bite, like was Derek the only one that could change her, was there a percentage of survival rate of being changed, could she die but the only person that could answer these questions was the only person she didn't want to ask. It wasn't like her and Derek weren’t on good terms he was just weird, brooding and always looked like he was angry and while Stiles loved to test the waters of any situation she was currently stuck in a house that she couldn't run away from him in.

Two days before Christmas Stiles was walking around with a book in her hand trying to find a new place to read when she came across a door that she had never seen before and trust her when she said she was sure she knew this house better than her own. It had been snowing since she had gotten here and Derek wouldn't let her go outside because he said that she was going to get lost in the storm and he didn't feel like amputating limbs in the kitchen where he had to make his food so needless to say she had been over the house from roof to floor. With the new door literally staring her in the face she looked up and down the hall to see if anyone else was there to witness the strange magic of Derek’s home. When she didn't find anyone in the hall she slowly reached for the knob finding it unlocked when she went to turn it, because of course it would be unlocked, it was a magic house if it didn't want her to be in there it wouldn't have let her even see the door. Her curiosity piqued she pushed it open to find a set of stairs that she ran up to see what she was being let to find, when she got to the top of the landing it was a dusty old attic. There wasn't a whole lot of spider webs which she was more than okay with but there was a thick layer of dust on all the sheets that were covering old furniture because leave it to Stiles to find the place where furniture came to die. It was like a maze of it too, she had to squeeze between sofas and end tables, there were lamps that she almost knocked over on more than one occasion and when she was really lucky there was a dresser that she smacked her knee into… twice. Stiles had no idea what she was looking for or what she could even find but she was hoping she was going to find it before all the old dusty sheets suffocated her.

Managing to get pretty far into the room she eventually came across an old leather style truck standing half uncovered by the sheet that was supposed to be keeping the dust off of it, Stiles took the handle and brought it down to the floor so that she could maybe open it to see what was inside. She sat on her knees and looked at the top of the trunk when gold lettering caught her attention but it was too hard to read with the dust that was covering it. With the sleeve of her flannel she dusted it off to read Cora on the outside, tilting her head she wondered who Cora was, if it was maybe someone that Derek hadn't mentioned when he told her about his story she also tried to think why the name sounded so familiar. Shrugging it off and pushing the curious thoughts to.the back of her brain, she moved to unlatch the trunk opening it to see what was inside. At first all she found were really old dresses, styles that looked like they were from the victorian era maybe older, there were shawls and a corset, a couple pairs of shoes and shoved in between everything she found a small wooden chiseled box, there was a scene carved into it of a wolf howling up at a full moon with a forest in the background. Stiles didn't think that she had ever seen anything so beautiful before, that is until she opened it to find a beautiful almost iridescent cameo, the engravings were so small, so detailed she wondered how it was even done. She hadn't realized there was even a window in the attic until the sun hit the cameo and it was like the thing came alive the girl in the silhouette moving causing her to go from a relaxed blank stare to a full on smile, she didn't know how it happened, wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't just seen it with her own two eyes. Taking the pendent between her fingers, she carefully pulled it out of the box holding it in her hand as she pulled the rest of the ribbon out of the box noticing the small pearls connected at the ends. Her fingers ran over it again this time with the ribbon hanging between her fingers and she could have sworn that the girl in the silhouette looked so familiar, which sounded stupid even to Stiles brain because it was just a girl and who knew how old the thing was but she didn't believe in coincidences and she was almost 100% positive that she had seen her before. It was so beautiful and all so confusing that she couldn’t stop herself from tying it around her neck, she didn't know who it belonged to but it didn't deserve to be shoved in a box, in a trunk in an attic, she wouldn't wear it for too long she didn't need Derek knowing that she snooped through his stuff but she just wanted to see what it would feel like to wear something so elegant. When it was situated against her collarbone and safely secured around her neck she looked up running her fingers over the cameo once more when her brain registered what she was looking at. 

Directly in front of her no more than five feet away were four boxes stacked on top of each other all labeled Christmas. She squeaked as she shut the trunk and ran over grabbing the first box in her arms and carefully but quickly ran back out into the hall ripping the box open to find twinkle lights, ornaments, and a tree skirt. There was an unintentional scream of delight as she bounced up and down happy that she found what she hadn't even realized she had been looking for. One of the doors from down the hall opened and Erica and Boyd came running towards her already worried looks plastered on their faces, when the got to her their arms came out making sure that she was okay. Stiles batted them away to excited to deal with their unnecessary parent worry “stop it, I didn't scream cause I was hurt, look.” Both sets of eyes looked down “its Christmas stuff.”

Erica shook her head, her soft blonde curls bouncing as those light brown eyes coming up to meet her own “I don't think this is a good idea, Derek doesn't really do Christmas… or his birthday, which is actually the same day” she looked up at Boyd with question in her eyes who seemed to read her mind and shook his head in response which in turn made Erica turn back to Stiles “yeah Derek doesn't really celebrate anything.”

Stiles rolled her eyes at the other girl “has anyone even asked, maybe he was just trying to be considerate in case none of you celebrate Christmas” Erica lifted an eyebrow and pursed her lips and Stiles nodded looking down at the stuff “right, that doesn't sound like him at all but if his birthday is really on Christmas I don't see why this stuff would be up there if he didn’t. Come on maybe we can surprise him and set everything up before he gets back and then he'll be surprised that he'll just let us have it.”

The blonde looked up at her boyfriend who looked over her features before shaking his head, Erica turned back to her and shook her head as well “I don't think this is a good idea Stiles.”

She looked up at the other woman, pleading with her because while she wasn't at home this was her favorite time of year, and the only time that she really got to think about her mother without feeling guilty “please will you help me, since I’ve been here I have managed to get one of your pack kicked out, two of the others are in serious trouble and I’ve almost died twice.” Stiles let her hands fall to her side her chin going down to rest against her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut “I need to do something to bring some sort of joy to this place before I lose myself. I'm not like you guys I can't leave and I don't know that I want the bite, so I'm not sure I ever will

There was a deep huff from both of them before Erica nodded reaching to take Stiles arm “okay, we’ll help but we want it on the record that we said it was going to be a bad idea.”

A huge smile spread across Stiles face as she did a little bounce to show her excitement “noted, Boyd can you go pick out a tree and bring it in I saw a few that were on the property that could work. Erica can you help me bring down the rest of the boxes that I found.” They both nodded, Boyd walking back down the hall to where the staircase was while Erica followed Stiles back up to the attic where they found the other three boxes and another two stacks of three boxes that also had Christmas written on the sides of them behind the originals. After the two girls got them all into the hallway Allison and Scott came out of the room to see what was going on, when they saw the boxes and listened to Stiles explain again that she needed some sort of normal thing in a not so normal situation they too reluctantly decided to help and moved to bring the boxes down to the living room. Boyd, Isaac and Kira were already waiting for them Boyd and Isaac ok either side of the tree holding it up and waiting. As if it knew the fireplace was already going, the room warm enough for Stiles human body while they started to get everything ready.

Stiles found the tree stand in one of the boxes that she handed over to Boyd, who, with the help of Scott and Isaac, managed to get it straight and began trimming the branches. The girls started with the garland and lights around the room, using the bookcase to do every other shelf with tinsel garlands and the opposite ones for lights. They wrapped garland around the tv stand place, and tapping, a santa hat to the side for drinking games later, or at least that's what Stiles hoped for. They did beaded garlands around the fireplace and on top of the piano as well, once they used the garland and lights that weren't for the tree they moved to the stockings. It shouldn't have surprised her but when she went to pull them all out sure enough there was one for every single one of them including one for Stiles. 

Once Scott let Isaac and Boyd do the trimming he went over to the tv to start to play Christmas music finally starting to get everyone in the spirit which she figured was due to the fact that he was the newest besides Stiles which meant he probably missed the holiday as much as she did. When he found the perfect station he went over to help Allison hang mistletoe over the doorway which Stiles would question later because she was sure that mistletoe was extremely poisonous to them but she wasn't about to ruin this moment. It wasn’t long before Lydia came down to find them all but she was much more willing to help since she hadn’t had a real Christmas since she had gotten there either and she was one of the first. They finished decorating the room, finding candles wrapped in Holly, with more garland tinsel that they found in another box that was hiding which they hung over the paintings with fake snow that they laid under the stocking weights that they used to hang them over the fireplace.

The next thing that they got to do was to decorate the tree once the boys had finished, they moved back after wrapping the lights around the tree and went to get egg nog for the group while the girls started to put the ornaments, tinsel and candy canes on the tree. Scott, Isaac and Boyd, after giving everyone a glass of eggnog, moved onto making strings of popcorn and cranberries. Stiles stopped with an ornament in one hand and a glass of eggnog in the other and took a second to take everything in. The boys were all laughing about something that Scott had just said, Isaac nudging Boyd in side as the normally quiet boy laughed with them and Stiles had to say his smile was actually really beautiful. Erica was sitting beside one of the boxes pulling ornaments out of it making sure to be careful as she unwrapping them before handing them off to either Allison or Lydia, Allison was talking about one of the last Christmases that she had celebrated, how she had made her grandmother and her mother furious because she told them that she was going to marry one of the boys in the town that they lived in, her mother and grandmother had been furious about her choice but Allison said that she had chosen him on purpose because she knew that they were going to hate him but she wanted to show them they weren’t going to be able to run her life like they did her older brothers. 

Her gaze blurred a little as she realized that her father was probably at home not a single decoration around the house because he was still looking for where she had gone, she could bet that he had a few drinks in his as well, she wasn't entirely naive. She thought about how last year her father had taken the late shift on Christmas eve so he could be home for Christmas morning which meant that Stiles had spent the whole night by herself watching sappy Christmas love stories eating from a giant tub of chocolate ice cream. The next morning she had gotten up early so that she could make the turkey that they had planned on eating for Christmas dinner, only around 2 in the afternoon her father called her and informed her that one of the deputies didn't come in for his shift so he was going to have to stay at the station for Christmas dinner. Stiles informed her father that it was okay, got off the phone and immediately fell apart, every Christmas since her mother had died had been spent at the station because unlike Stiles her father hated this time of year for the same reason that she loved. She eventually got dinner ready and brought it down to the station for her father and the other deputies that had to be there for Christmas. Only when she got to the station her father was out on patrol and was gonna be out for hours, she went home and spent Christmas by herself wondering why her father was trying to avoid her no matter how much he missed his wife she didn't think that he should have left her all alone on Christmas... again. If anything the way that she has been forced to spend her christmas these last couple of years should have made her hate the holidays but her mother had loved them so much she couldn't bring herself to hold any ill feelings against them.

She shook her head bringing her back to the living room of a house that she was being forced to stay in, everyone had a smile on their face and while Stiles liked being an only child she had always secretly wanted a big family for this reason right here, she could feel the love in the room. While she hated being away from her father she was maybe happy that she didn't have to spend this Christmas by herself and that thought made her feel more guilt than she had ever felt before. 

“Stiles?”

Her head snapped up to see everyone staring at her and she wondered just how many times they had called her name before she had actually heard them “yeah?”  
Allison moved closer to her, her hand coming up to cup Stiles elbow “are you okay, are you second guessing the decorations cause I really think that Derek is going to love them.”

There was a smile that tugged at her lips “it's not that, but thank you. I’m okay, just thinking about my dad that's all.” A collective oh went through the crowd and it got a little awkward as no one seemed to know what to say and Stiles chuckled “it's okay guys, I’m fine really.” She shuffled a little bit in her spot before looking back up “it’s weird because while I have no choice on whether I’m here it's actually nice not having to be alone all the time. You guys are really nice and I dont think I’ve had this many friend type people.”

“Gag me” they all turned to see Jackson come in through the door “what are you losers doing?”

Lydia held up her finger “we are enjoying our Christmas and I swear if you ruin this you will never enjoy sex again.” Jackson held up his hands in surrender and walked over to where Erica had the next ornament in her hand and took it from her and went over to place it on the tree. Everyone froze for a brief moment wondering if it was really the threat that made him participate of if it was because he was secretly harboring feelings for this time of year like the rest of them. They eventually went back to whatever they had been doing before Stiles guilt had interrupted them all. 

 

Derek stopped on the front steps of the house after shifting and lifted his nose in the air, there was something that smelled familiar going along with something that sounded odd but for some reason whatever it was was causing his chest to feel like someone had shoved a fire poker into his rib cage and straight through his heart. 

“What is it Fido, is Timmy trapped in a well?”

His red gaze flew around to look at Peter as he too made it up the stairs, “that's Lassie Jackass” Peter snorted and was just about to pass him when Derek lifted his arm to stop him, he met the bright blue gaze with his Alpha red. “Do you smell that?”

Peter turned his head enough to smell at the wind, Derek knew that he had caught what he had when his eyebrows furrowed together “what is that?”

He moved to the door and opened it, as soon as there was the smallest crack there were so many scents that filled their senses, there was pine and cinnamon, popcorn, fire and happiness. It smelled like love and family, they could hear the others laughing and the soft Christmas melody, the girls were talking about boys they had previously dated and the guys were moaning and groaning over the subject matter but there was one underlining smell something that didn't quite match the Christmas celebration that was going on, something that Derek was racking his brain to figure out where he knew that scent from. Derek's body moved on its own as the smell of Christmas seeped from the cracks of the living room door and it was making Derek on edge. There was a hatred for Christmas so deep in Derek that it was all making him see red as he moved towards the doors throwing them open with a loud clatter his eyes took everything in before everyone was jostled by his entrance. Jackson stood in front of the fire pouring a glass of eggnog and was turning to give it to Boyd who was sitting on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table a string in his hand with cranberries and popcorn spilled across the table. Isaac was opposite him, he was looking up at Jackson with a smile on his face and asking for a glass as well and unlike ever before Jackson looked happy to give the younger wolf what he wanted without verbally abusing him first. Scott was with Allison, balancing her on his shoulder just high enough so that she could put an ornament at the top of the tree. Derek was never going to admit it out loud but he noticed that there was no topper on the tree yet and he wondered to himself as to why. Lydia was standing with Erica pointing at a bare spot while Stiles stood behind them watching an interested look on her face before she turned those whiskey eyes on him and that's when it caught his eye. The realization of what the smell was sent the anger spewing from his every pore like a kettle left over the flame for too long. Around Stiles neck was Cora’s cameo a cameo that was no embedded with his sisters scent even after being shoved into a trunk in the attic for over a hundred years. It was the same cameo that he had had specifically made for her, he had taken a portrait of his baby sister to a guy that specialized in cameos, he had hand picked out the mother of pearl that the man used to carve it because it was so much like his sister happy and smiling, prim and proper. There had been a wild side to her too though that made her glow and Derek nourished and helped her grow that wild side so that she could be the wonderful independent woman that she deserved to be. He had given it to her when she was eleven and she had worn it everyday for five years having to switch out the ribbon on it so many times that it had become an inside joke to the both of them, until the day that it hadn't. With the memory of losing his sister thrown to the front of his brain his anger exploded out of him like a volcano that had been lying dormant for centuries “WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE!?!”

Every pair of eyes were on him Stiles, not being able to feel what he knew his betas were feeling, smiled and moved towards him holding a porcelain angel out to him until she saw his face which made her stop dead in her tracks the necklace bouncing off her skin. There was a forced smile that she gave him as if to show that whatever he was upset about could be worked through with a few ornaments and holiday songs “Christmas is in two days and I found all this stuff, we wanted to surprise you and leave you the angel since your the Alpha…”

His voice came out in a growl that made her physically step back away from him, a growl so deep that it had him clenching his jaw shut and hissing the words from between his teeth “we don't celebrate Christmas.”

“But Derek…” she turned to look at everyone but he was already moving forwards so that he was towering over her, there was a terrified look on her face but as he moved closer his sisters scent filled his nose and it made his heart feel like it was going to explode out of his chest. Her whiskey brown eyes looked up at him begging him to see what she did but he was having none of it “I’m sorry, please don’t get mad at them it was all my idea, it was my fault I just found this door and it led to the attic.”

He didn't know how it was possible but his eyes got wider as his chest filled with acid at the thought of her rummaging through his dead families stuff and he lost it “you were in the attic.” His vision blurred and before he could stop himself his hand came up, slapped the angel from her grasp causing it to fall and shatter on the floor before he reached up and yanked the necklace from around her neck with more force then he would have ever normally applied, when it broke free easily he turned grabbing branches at the top of the tree yanking it down and dragging to throw it out the door ornaments falling and breaking in all and not a single one of them tried to stop him which was good because he really did not want to kill one of his betas for interrupting. He went back over to the door and looked around at the horrified faces “we don't celebrate Christmas in this house and the next person that tries will also find the gate.”

 

Stiles was on her hands and knees from the force of Derek yanking the ribbon from her person, there were a few drops of blood that fell to the floor from where it had actually cut her skin. When Derek slammed the door after declaring that Christmas was now a taboo subject around the house the sound of it slamming caused everyone to start moving, pulling all of their hard work off the walls and shoving everything back into the boxes. Jackson came over to press a napkin to the back of her neck where she was still on the floor the shock over the amount of anger that Derek held preventing her muscles from moving. “It was a good try” he waited for her to take hold of the napkin shaking her from her thoughts and sitting back against her heels. Before she knew what she was doing she was standing up, ignoring the blood that was running down her fingers as she moved to go upstairs. Once she was in her room, she grabbed the converse from under the bed, sitting in the chair to put them on as Allison came into the room.

“Stiles where are you going?”

Her focus was on tying her shoes and ignoring the blood stains that were starting to cover her shoes as her neck refused to stop bleeding “I'm going for a walk”

“You can't leave…”

“I KNOW” her gaze flew to look at the other woman and she cringed at how loud her voice had come out an overwhelming sense of guilt washing over her. She met Allisons gaze “I’m sorry, I know It’s only noon, the sun is out and the snow has finally lightened up. I am just going to go for a walk around the grounds I promise.” Finishing tying her shoes she stood up and grabbed the thickest jacket from her closet and a scarf.

“Do you want some company?”

Stiles gave the other woman a pained smile but shook her head “I appreciate the sentiment but I really don't” Allison nodded and let her walk out of the room without a second thought. She went out the back door and all the way out to the back gate where she stopped, placed her hand against the invisible boundary to make sure it was still there before she turned and did a couple laps around the perimeter. What she really wanted to be alone for was so she could disappeared into the depths of her mind trying to figure out what it was that made Derek so angry. Her first assumption was that it had to do with something regarding Cora since that was what the trunk had said where she had found the necklace that he had ripped from her neck. After doing a couple of laps she went over to one of the benches and sat down thinking about something that she could do to make Derek feel better about the holidays or at least do something that wouldn't set them back. It wasn't like they were the best of friends or even friends at all but after yelling at each other they weren't exactly enemies either and she wanted to keep it at least that way for a while, she didn't need him blaming her for the loss of power from losing a pack mate, not when she was gonna be stuck here forever. Spending a decent amount of time on what she could do, she finally came up with an idea that she could hopefully get to work, she had been out there so long though that the sun had started to go down indicating that she needed to go back inside before the cold night air was really unkind to her or made Derek think that she was trying to kill herself using weather again and really set him off.

As she made it back up to her room she noticed that the living room was back to its same normal not decorated state and it made Stiles heart break just a little bit more as she climbed up the stairs and to her room where Lydia was waiting for her. Well that wasn't entirely true she wasn't exactly waiting for her but she was asleep on Stiles bed ready to sound the alarm that she had once more returned. Sure enough when Stiles left the bathroom Lydia was gone and a tray of food arrived on her nightstand. She wasn't all that hungry so she picked at the plate waiting for everyone to go to sleep or at least for them to go into their own rooms. Once she knew that the coast would be clear she moved off of her bed and headed over to the library. Waiting for her already on the bookcase was the photo album with all the pictures of Derek's family much like the one that she had, she had been sure that there had to be pictures of his family out there somewhere and she had been right. Grabbing the album a part of her really wanted to open and look to see what the pictures looked like, to see if there was one with a smiling Derek but she thought that she had maybe snooped enough for one day and instead wrapped it in brown paper tying it with some twine she found in one of the drawers to the desk before taking it in her arms and made a wish over its magical materials. When she finished she went over to Derek's door and stood there with it in her hands, she couldn't seem to get the nerves up to knock and she knew why, because what if he didn't like it, what if it only made him more mad, what if it caused him to kick her out not that he really could because she could actually leave the property but she could still die… right? Luckily even though she didn't have wolf ears she heard him get off the bed and she did the only thing she knew, she set the book down and ran back to her own room. It wasn't like he wouldn't know it was her but he couldn't yell at her or hurt her if she wasn't standing there, he would actually have to look for her and maybe just maybe he would calm down before he ever reached her. With that one task finished she went back into her room and took the book off the nightstand and read until she fell asleep with it on her chest.

The next morning she woke up to Scott running into her room and jumping on her bed repeatedly saying her name which of course because Stiles hates morning without coffee and also because she slept like shit it only made her groan and roll over bringing the covers over head “go away Scott.”

He jumped off the bed and placed one hand on her hip and the other on her shoulder and started to shake her, good thing she wasn't a baby “you have to get up, you have to see this.”

She grumbled throwing the blankets back so that he would stop shaking her and so he could see that she was not amused “see what?”

His puppy eyes were filled with so much joy that she was actually curious for so early in the morning, his face lit up as he whispered “it's a Christmas miracle.” Her head tilted ever so slightly and Scott started to bounce up and down “come on you have to see.”

“Fine, fine, I'm coming” she got up off the bed and wrapped her robe around herself before following him out of the room and over to stairs Scott babbling on about how amazing it was and how she was going to be so happy. All that was going to make Stiles happy right now was her soft warm bed or a steaming cup of coffee both of which she did not have. Of course because the world like to prove her wrong, Scott had actually been right because as they walked down the stairs it was like Christmas had thrown up in the entire bottom floor. Stiles stopped on the steps because even the banister was wrapped in lights and red and green garland and it all was very impressive or at least it was by what she was seeing and Scott looked up at her from the entryway a huge smile on his face his light aglow “I'm going to assume that this wasn't you then?”

Stiles shook her head her voice coming out in a soft whisper “no” she looked over to see Derek coming out of the living room and she went down the last few steps her heart pounding out of her chest as she held up her hands hoping that he wasn't going to once again yell at her. “I didn't do this Derek I swear, I heard you yesterday, no Christmas but this wasn't me.” She glanced into the room where he had just come out of to see the tree was back where they had put it, with new decorations, hell the whole room was filled with decorations and it made Stiles mouth actually fall agape.

There was a small smile that just barely touched at his lips as he nodded “I know it wasn't it wasn't you because it was me.” Stiles gaze moved away from the living room to look up at him a confused look she knew was on her face and that soft smile he had had before fell just ever so slightly. “I overreacted last night and for that I am sorry” his hand came up and Stiles didn't move as his hand went to the back of her neck his warm fingers making the hairs on her neck stand on end as his fingers lightly grazed over the cut “I hope I didn't hurt you too much.” She shook her head and he seemed to take it for what it was, as his gaze met hers “maybe you and I can go for a walk later?”

Nodding, she looked up into those hazel eyes that seemed to plead with her “yeah, yeah that would be nice.” 

There was that smile again and he held out his hand for the dining room “come on breakfast will be gone if we leave the others alone for too long.” Stiles didn't know what had changed Derek's attitude towards her but she didn't mind this nicer version one bit so she followed him into the dining room taking the chair that he held out for her, the chair that was opposite his at the head of the table. She watched as he went to his spot, and spooned eggs onto his plate before passing them to Peter who greedily took them and made a mountain of them on his plate, she wasn't much of a breakfast eater but she did enjoy the coffee and monkey bread. She didn't know how they knew that was her favorite breakfast treat but it was delicious and reminded her of her mother, it had been a really long time since she had it and it was just as delicious as she remembered. When everyone finished up breakfast Derek let her change into some warmer clothes before he led her out into the back area where she had sat the day before. He dusted off the fresh snow before sitting down next to her, his body slightly turned towards her, his shoulder even brushing hers but he never actually looked at her. “Cora was my baby sister, and I use baby loosely, you see she was only a few years younger than me but she was so smart and sassy. You actually remind me a lot of her.” Stiles immediately felt bad for going through her things, she had done the one thing that even she would have never done had she known and she had been caught doing it. “When I saw her necklace on you, and her scent was in the air I felt the guilt of surviving all over again, I felt shame and disgust and my anger may have gotten the better of me.” She didn't want to say something that would upset him now, not that she even knew what to say so instead she just sat there close enough that her shoulder brushed against his and their legs were pressed together from hip to knee before letting him continue when he was ready which didn't take long. “She was beautiful and after over a hundred years I think it's time that I let that guilt go, there's no point in feeling the way I do now when there was nothing I can do to change it now.” He held something out to to her and she looked down to see a small velvet box “here, merry Christmas.”

Stiles watched him as she took the box from his hands and opened it to find the cameo, this time on a chain instead of a ribbon and she gasped looking at him “I can't take this Derek, not now.”

There was a small smile as he looked at her holding his hand out for it, she gave it to him turning slightly so that he could place it around her neck. “she would want you to have it, its okay really.” 

Looking down at the small cameo for the second time, she realized it was no bigger than a silver dollar and on the chain it hung two inches below her collar, where she was able to actually look down at it. That was when something caught her eye as she brushed her thumb over the engraving before looking up at him “what did she look like, your sister?”

His eyebrows furrowed together “you didn't look in the album before you gave it to me?” She shook her head and he stood up throwing his head for her to follow so she did just that and followed him back to the house and up to his room where the album was sitting on his nightstand. He flipped it open searching for a specific page before bringing it over to where Stiles was standing at his desk next to the door, laying it out for her to see the black and white picture of a woman standing in a floor length gown, a bustle in the back, the shoulders bunched up, she was standing with her hands in front of her staring at the lense with a smile on her face. “That's her”

Getting closer only proved Stiles suspicions as she pointed at the picture and stood to look up at Derek “I know her, I went to school with her” she looked back at the picture bending down to get a closer look “she actually lived a few blocks down the street from me.”

Derek shook her head that pained look back in his eyes but this time without the rage “no that's impossible, she died in the fire with the rest of my family.”

The pain that was in his voice broke even Stiles heart, but it was true “maybe it wasn't her exactly but there was a girl that looked just like her that was in my grade, her name was even Cora and she lived with her older sister. What was her name” Stiles tried to think back to when she had heard the information but it had been so long ago “it rhymed which made me think I was going to be able to remember it. Here” she took the album in her hand keeping the page saved and went into the library thinking about her yearbook from Junior year and sure enough when they got in there it was waiting on the shelf. She took it over to the desk and opened up the album to his sisters page and then started flipping through the yearbook until she came across the picture of the girl she was talking about. Pointing down at the picture she looked up at Derek “see Cora Hale”

“Laura”

Stiles hand flew up “yes, thank you, that was it” and then her heart froze “wait… how did you know that?”

“Because that was the name of MY older sister.”

And before Stiles could ask anymore questions he was out the door, she tried to follow him him, to stop him but by the time she got to the front door he was fully shifted and across the property border which she still couldn't pass. “Well shit.”


End file.
